4/22/08 | Bill Drayton, Ashoka

Ashoka has shaken up the world. If you’ve never heard of this association, you have probably at least have seen its work. Ashoka is a 26-year-old alliance of social entrepreneurs. It is the largest such group of men and women with systems-changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems. The YPO-WPO Social Enterprise Networks work frequently with Ashoka and want to introduce you to the association’s founder, Bill Drayton. Mark your calendars for an exceptional call that will provide insights into social entrepreneurism around the world.

Hear Drayton talk about Ashoka’s work and the role of social entrepreneurs in building an “Everyone a Changemaker” world. Learn how you, too can apply your entrepreneurial passion to effectively solve some of the world’s most intractable social problems. Moderator James Kenefick (YPO Washington DC) will lead you and all of your YPO-WPO peers through an hour that will give you weeks of thought and perhaps even a new focus in life.

William Drayton is the chair and CEO of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, USA. He has built Ashoka into an internationally known association that provides start-up funding, professional support services, and connections to a global network of more than 1900 leading social entrepreneurs (elected as Ashoka Fellows) in over 60 countries. Drayton continues to build Ashoka’s network and fulfill the association’s vision of creating an “Everyone a Changemaker” world. Drayton’s eye for the greater good began long ago. As a student, he was active in civil rights and founded a number of organizations, ranging from Yale Legislative Services to Harvard’s Ashoka Table, an inter-disciplinary weekly forum in the social sciences. He earned degrees from Harvard, Oxford University and Yale Law School. Drayton served U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s administration in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency where he launched emissions trading (the basis of Kyoto) and other reforms. He worked in law as well and eventually was elected a MacArthur Fellow at the end of 1984. This is when he was able to fully concentrate on developing Ashoka. Since then, Drayton has won numerous awards, honors and designations from diverse organizations.

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